Flash and Substance
"Flash and Substance" is the fifth episode of the second season of Justice League Unlimited. It originally aired on February 11, 2006. Plot In a bar, where all of Central City's Rogues seem to hang out, four of Flash's enemies share grievances over drinks, lamenting how Flash has always foiled their various capers: Mirror Master, Captain Cold, The Trickster, and Captain Boomerang. As a final insult, Central City has declared the next day "Flash Appreciation Day" and dedicated a museum to him. They decide to work together to kill him. Next Day, Wally West spends the morning at his day job, as a forensic science technician for the Central City crime lab. Reminding his supervisor that he's taking a half day, Wally ducks into a closet and teleports up to the Watchtower. Seeing that all of the original seven founding members are on assignment except for Batman, Flash drops hopeful hints about the museum opening, and Batman reluctantly agrees to show up, much to Orion's disgust. While making the rounds of Central City, Flash hears a little girl crying for help inside an abandoned disco club. The girl proves to be an illusion, and the disco has been booby-trapped by Mirror Master, with lasers shooting from the ball. Flash escapes the trap. Flash receives the key to the city from the Mayor, but the ceremony is interrupted by a barrage of explosive boomerangs. Flash disposes of them safely, but then a giant rocket-propelled boomerang snatches him up and heads for a mountain. Flash tears out its circuitry, causing it to crash. Batman and Orion find him, telling him there's a plot to kill him. Flash says he still plans to attend the ceremony. After Captain Boomerang's plot fails, Trickster proposes an elaborate but deadly prank involving four hundred cases of fake dog vomit and a wall of metal spikes. Ignoring him, the three Rogues decide to ambush Flash together at the museum. Flash leads them to the bar, where Trickster is moping. Orion and Batman interrogate him in their usual tough style, but Flash takes a more humane approach. He convinces Trickster that he needs psychiatric care, and Trickster agrees to tell about the others' plan, if Flash promises to come visit him in the hospital. As they leave, Trickster cheerfully agrees to turn himself in as soon as he finishes his drink, much to Orion's bafflement. At the museum opening, Batman and Orion stake out the outside, Batman reporting that he's removed all the mirrors from the inside. Orion wonders aloud at how a "buffoon" like Flash can be considered a hero, or deserve membership in the League. Batman doesn't give him a reply. Flash is signing autographs inside. Linda Park, an infatuated TV reporter, slips him her phone number, but he is so distracted that he just signs it and hands it back. Before starting their on-air interview, Linda checks her makeup in a hand mirror – out of which Boomerang, Captain Cold, and Mirror Master burst. The crowd flees, while Batman and Orion rush inside. Mirror Master fires dozens of mirrors from his arsenal, into one of which Linda falls. Flash follows her in, and they are both trapped in an alternate dimension with millions of mirrors – it might take years for them to find the one that lets them out again. During the fight in the museum, Batman fires a flare into the mirror, marking the exit for Flash. As he and Linda return to the museum, he, Batman, and Orion defeat the Rogues. In a TV interview, Flash reports that everyone is safe. Linda laments that the museum has been destroyed, and pours out her adoration of Flash. Embarrassed, Wally covers with a joke: "Hey, at least I got to be on TV." Orion realizes that the speedster is actually quite the worthy warrior, and that he only acts the part of a fool to deal with the emotional stress and trauma that goes along with superheroics. Though the museum has sustained heavy damage, Flash shrugs it off; museums can be rebuilt. What matters most to Wally West is that the good guys won in the end. Continuity * It is revealed that Captain Boomerang left Task Force X, which featured heavily in "Task Force X." * In the Flash Museum, there is a statue of Grodd holding his mind-control helmet from episode, "The Brave and the Bold". * Also, in the Flash Museum, there is a giant globe depicting "The Fastest Man Alive" race disputed between Superman and the Flash in the episode, "Speed Demons". According to the banner, the Flash won the race. * Orion rips apart the last 'Flash Standee' from the Lightspeed Energy Bars advertising spot that Flash did in episode, "Eclipsed, Part I". * The mayor's speech refers to the Thanagarian invasion chronicled in , "Starcrossed." Background Information Production Inconsistencies * Even though the Turtle-Man display gets destroyed, it can be seen in the background later when Orion lunges at Captain Cold. Either Turtle-Man had two displays, or this is an oversight. Trivia *In some form or another, almost every major villain in the Flash's history appears in this episode, making cameos either at the Rogue's hangout or in depictions at the Flash Museum. The rogues at the bar include Weather Wizard, Turtle-Man, Thinker, Fiddler, Doctor Alchemy, Abra Kadabra, and Pied Piper. *One particular sighting places Mr. Element at a bar sitting next to Dr. Alchemy. It's a strange sight, considering that for most of the character's history, the two villains had actually been one man with a split personality. However, in DC Comics continuity, a false Mr. Element has appeared at least once, so the presence of both men isn't completely out of the question (as long as Dr. Alchemy's deadly hatred of the imposter is discounted!) *The presence of both Jay Garrick's helmet and the Kid Flash costume raises the question: how many Flashes have there been in the DCAU? (See main article: Flash and Flash Museum.) *Wally's superior resembles Barry Allen, the second Flash. Wally gives another nod to Barry when he mentions his uncle. *Batman's interaction with the Trickster somewhat recalls his encounters with the Joker, though the Trickster is a much milder villain. It should; Mark Hamill portrays both villains and actually played the "real" Trickster in the live-action Flash TV series in 1990. The role ultimately led to Hamill's audition for the animated Joker. The Trickster's appearance here is modeled heavily on Hamill's appearance from the older series. *Linda Park is also a reporter in DC Comics continuity. However, her name in the comic books is Linda Park-''West''; the wife of the Flash and mother of his twin children. In this episode, she demonstrates a deep attraction for the Flash, perhaps planting a seed for a later relationship. *Captain Cold mentions a wife. In comics continuity he's single; in fact Leonard Snart is a notorious womanizer. In an odd role switch, the Wally West of DC Comics is married with children, while in the DCAU, the unmarried Flash is a self-styled ladies' man. *Wally West keeps a plethora of costume rings in a dresser drawer at his apartment, implying that Flash costumes get damaged or destroyed on a fairly regular basis. *The costume from the Flash's ring is also a reference to "The Flash" a 1960s cartoon. Cast Uncredited Appearances *Green Lantern *Ice *Red Tornado *Superman *Vixen *Wonder Woman *Abra Kadabra *Dr. Alchemy *Fiddler *Mr. Element *Pied Piper *Thinker *The Top *Turtle-Man *Weather Wizard Quotes Category:Justice League Unlimited episodes